Mimics
Overview Waldoma, also known as mimics in Aetherian, are a mobile plant species that encases itself with in an armored shell that it moves about in. At first easily mistakable for a robot the mimic uses a humanoid body as its mobile platform to move about and perform tasks ranging from infantry to bridge staff on Serpents ships. They appear to be able to take simple orders and perform complex tasks off of them which makes them ideal helmsmen and independent troopers. Biology The Waldoma being a plant has no brain or critic point to exploit in combat, all parts of the plant contain equal amounts of nerves and cerebral matter; this means in combat one often has to shoot off all their limbs or sometimes burn them before they are effectively dealt with, this has lead to the return of use of flame throwers in some cases. It has been observed by some that mimics birth their young as a whole new set of vine like plants spewed out of their body and onto the ground where it will start using what ever material is around to build their new form. It is speculated by dr. NAME REDACTED BY AUTHORIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF STRATEGIC NAVAL INTELLIGENCE that mimics grow continuously and when they have grown to a certain amount of mass they simply shed the extra mass as a new mimic. This would mean that every new mimic is an exact clone of the previous, sharing memories and experiences, it is unknown if the newborn mimic and the parent mimic have to fight for control of the previous body or if they have a shared understanding of their roles. It has been suggested by many members of the exobiology community that the mimic plant developed its ability to walk from being native to a planet with a slow rotation, requiring them to learn to move in order to avoid long night periods. It is unknown if they were ever in a tumble weed like state, though this is unlikely to be as they wouldn't be able to effectively follow the sun. Types of mimics Well mimics come in multiple forms there are several major types that they can be categorized as in the field. Young Mimic This mimic is newly developed mimic that has composed its body out of nearby material such as rock, wood or strewn about construction material; and in one case ancient armor as they were in a museum and re-purposed display armor. They often are noted for their vines wrapping around their body in order to keep all the material secure. Over time the mimic plant will secret an acid that allows them to shape their bodies to a more visually pleasing state as well as glue new materials around the outside. Mature mimic After a time mimics will develop a full humanoid body, often complete with a carved in face resembling that of a porcine doll. One's destine for infantry often pull weapons into the construction of their new form and some have even been observed to build their bodies around heavy weapons that require them to reorient their entire form to fire properly. It has been noted that in this stage they build details on themselves that could only be described as aesthetic in nature, well not known for sure it is believed that this is the mimics form of socializing as they cannot communicate otherwise. The older the mimic the more complex and intricate these designs tend to be. It is likely that Serpent doesn't view this as an issue or conflicting culture and allows the mimics to continue to do this without reprimand. Elder mimic Elder mimics are easily recognized thanks to their complex design and often bright colors. These tend to be special operatives and incredibly dead as by this point in their lives they have enveloped many combat abilities and weapons into their shell. Despite their bright colors they are rarely picked off by snipers due to their decentralized nervous system.